Wire gate



(No Model.)

J. W. PALMER.

WIRE GATE. No. 396,230. Patented Jan.--15, 1889.

N. PETERS. FMm-Ullwgnylmr. Walhingmu. D. C.

50 to the wires of the fence.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

JAMES IV. PALMER, OF NORTH SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI WIRE GATE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 396,230, dated January15, 1889.

Application filed July 28, 1888. Serial No. 281,306. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES \V. PALMER, a citizen of the United States,residing at North Springfield, in the county of Greene and State ofMissouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lVireGates; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,

and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to wire gates of the class adapted to be employedin making passage-ways in wire fences, and has for its object to providea gate which can be easily and I 5 quickly opened and closed, and whichcannot be accidentally dislodged. In the use of devices for this purposevarious means have been employed to hold each wire of the gateseparately in the desired position. These devices, which usually consistof a tighteninglever provided with alocking projection, are renderedalmost valueless by the ease with which they may be accidentallydisengaged by the jarring of the fence. This jarring may be produced bythe wind or by animals gaged, and which will not under any amount ofjarring become accidentally displaced. The pressure against the gate byanimals will also have no effect upon the locking device, and the gatewill remain in operative position. un-

3 5 less removed by hand.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of one form of gateembodying my iuvention. Fig. 2 is a top view of the attaching devices.Fig. 3 is a side view of the same.

Figs. I and 5 are detail views of parts of the mechanism.

' In the drawings, A and A are two posts of a wire fence between whichan opening is desired. One of these posts, A, is provided with means forattaching a number of wires thereto and the other )ost A is rovidcd'with a supporting-arm, a. The gate B is composed of a number of wires,Z), extending be.

tween the posts, preferably equal in number These wires are provided atone end with rings or loops in any desired manner, which engage withhooks, staples, or other retaining devices attached to post A. I preferto employ a hook, 0, constructed as shown in the drawings, whichconsists of a shank screwed into the post or passing entirely throughthe same and fastened by means of a nut on its outer end anda head, 0.This head I prefer to provide with a slit or opening, as shown in thedrawings, in the'form of a compound curve, so as to provide an openingfor the reception of the ring or loop, which will prevent said loop frombe ing accidentally disengaged therefrom, but will allow it to move inthe opening.

The ends of the-wires b which do not engage the hooks O are attached toa cross-bar, b, in any desired way and in such a manner that thewires 1) will be parallel. At intervals the wires 1). are preferablybraced by cross-wires b attached thereto by bending or twisting or inany other desired way, and thus forming a gate; but these cross-wiresare not essential and maybe dispensed with. To the center of the cross-bar Z1 is attached the tightening-lever I) in any desired way,preferably by means of a ring or link secured to the bar and passingthrough an aperture in one end of the lever. This lever I) is a barprovided near the end where it engages the bar I) with a curvedprojection, (l, which forms a bearing for a projection, a, of an arm, a,before referred to.

The lever D is bent slightly at a point adjacent to the projection (Z,for a purpose hereinafter specified, and the free end of the lever isprovided with a retaining or locking hook or catch, (l. The free end ofthe lever D is bent downwardly at a point near the hook (1, as shown inFig. 3, so that the upper portion of the hook willlie below the plane ofthe lever when the same is in operative position. r

In Fig. 5 I have shown three forms of retaining or locking hooks which Imay employ with the lever I). This hook I prefer to form so that it willhave a secure hold upon the wire passing through it and will surroundthe wire in such a manner as to prevent it from being accidentallydisengaged therefrom.

In Fig. 4 I have illustrated my preferred form of supporting-arm a. Thisarm is secured to the post A in any desired Way, and is provided with ahook or projection, a, at or near its free end. I prefer to provide aprojection or stud having a flange extending parallel to the plane ofthe arm a, which serves to prevent the lever D from being disengagedfrom the stud a". I may, however, construct the projection a in the formof a hook havin its bent portion extendin backward toward the post A, ifdesired.

The operation of the device is as follows: The lever D is placed inposition upon the supporting-arm a, with the projection (Z in engagementwith the stud a. The free end of the lever is then pressed toward thegate, thus drawing the cross-bar 1) toward the post A and tighteningall. the wires composing the gate. 'hen the lever has been moved to thisposition, the central wire of the gate is made to engage the hook d onlever D, thus securely locking the lever in position. It will be seenthat the lever being bent near the projection d, the cross-bar h andwires b will be held to the rear of the stud on the supportingarm u andwill not bear against the same. It will also be seen that in placing thewire Z) in engagement with the hook (Z' the wire will rest upon thecurved portion of the lever D and will be held in a depressed po sitionwhen engaged by the said hook, as seen in Fig. By this means the tensionof the wire will bear d own upon the curved portion of the lever andforce the hook (l' to depress the wire, thereby rendering the accidentaldisplacement of the hook impossible. \V hen it is desired to open thegate, the hook d is disengaged i'rom the wire and thelever released andremoved from the arm (1, when the gate may be opened.

Imay provide a post located at right angles to the posts of the gate andin line with the post A, and attach the gate to the same temporarily, inorder to support it when in its open position.

By means of the constructions herein shown and described I provide agate which can be instantly opened or closed by operating a singlelever, and one which cannot be displaced by jarring or the contact ofanimals.

It will be readily seen that the cross-bar may be attached to the wireswhich constitute the fence instead of employing separate wires, ifpreferred or Found desirable. This is not my 1)]Qf6110tl form, but is acheaper construction and will be found to give perfect sz'ttislaction inmost cases, while it has the additional advantage of being very easilyand quickly made and placed in operative position. \Yhere the gate isused with great frequency, I prefer to employ the construction firstdescribed.

WVhatI claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A gate-forming device for wire fences, consisting of a supporting-armadapted to be secured to a post, a cross-bar adapted to be secured tothe wires of the fence, and a locking-lever connected to said cross-barand adapted to engage the supporting-arm, said lever being provided witha retaining or looking hook adapted to engage a wire of the gate,substantially as described.

2. In a wire fence, the combination, with parallel wires constituting aportion of the fence, of a cross-bar secured to said wires, asupporting-arm secured to a post, and a locking-lever attached to saidcross-bar and engaging the supporting-arm, said lever being providedwith a retaining-hook adapted to engage one of the said parallel wires,substantially as described.

3. In a wire fence, the combination, with parallel wires, of asupporting-arm provided with a stud and secured to a post, a cross-barattached to said parallel wires, and a lever having one end pivotallyattached to said cross-bar and having a projection intermediate its endsto engage astud on the supporting-arln, the free end of the lever beingprovided with a locking-hook to engage a fencewire, the wire-engagingportion of which is below the horizontal. plane of the main body of thelever, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a wire gate, of an arm adapted to support oneend of the same, and an angular lever having one end attached to saidgate and provided with. a projeetion to engage a stud on. saidsupportingarm, the free end of said lever being bent downward andprovided with a locking-hook adapted to engage one of the parallelwires, the wire-engaging portion of said hook lying below the plane ofthe lever, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a wire fence, of posts, one of which providedwith retaining-hooks and the other with a supporting arm, a gateconsisting of parallel wires e11- gaging the retaining-lmoks andprovided with a cross-bar, and a lever having 'one end attached to saidcross-bar and provided with a projection to engage the supportingarm,the free end of said lever being provided with a locking-hook adapted toengage one of the parallel, wires, the wire-engaging portion of saidhook lying below the plane of the lever, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES iV. PALMER.

\Vitnesses:

L. 'l. HUNT, A. ()TTERSON, Jr.

